Bears Start Ben Johnson Era by Breaking One Painful Streak

A sigh of relief for Bears fans.
Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears scored on their opening drive of the 2025 NFL season.
Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears scored on their opening drive of the 2025 NFL season. / David Banks-Imagn Images

Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears are already clicking.

The Bears opened the Ben Johnson era on Monday night against the visiting Minnesota Vikings and ended a pretty awful streak that stretched back into last season. During the 2024 campaign, Chicago was one of only three teams that didn't score an opening drive touchdown all season. That script got flipped in Week 1.

After the Vikings were forced to punt on the opening possession, the Bears took over on their 39-yard line. They proceeded to march 61 yards on 10 plays and finished it off with a nine-yard touchdown scramble into the end zone from Williams. It was the quarterback's first career rushing touchdown.

Chicago's offense, and it's quarterback, looked poised and in control the entire drive. That's something that was rarely, if ever, seen in 2024.

On the drive, Williams was 6-for-6 for 51 yards, while adding the nine-yard rushing touchdown. Five different receivers caught passes, and the Bears were 2-for-2 on third downs. On one of those third downs, Williams made something out of nothing and hit Rome Odunze with an absolute laser, with the second-year wideout doing an incredible job to make the catch.

It was only one drive, but Chicago's offense looks wildly different in its first sequence under Johnson's watch.


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Ryan Phillips
RYAN PHILLIPS

Ryan Phillips is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in digital media since 2009, spending eight years at The Big Lead before joining SI in 2024. Phillips also co-hosts The Assembly Call Podcast about Indiana Hoosiers basketball and previously worked at Bleacher Report. He is a proud San Diego native and a graduate of Indiana University’s journalism program.